Grain-separator



2 Sheets Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. LUCAS.

GRAIN SEPARATOR.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. LUCAS.

GRAIN SEPARATOR. No. 317,813. Patented May 12, 1885.

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Uivrrnn STATES PATENT FFlCE-Q JOHN LUCAS, OF HASTINGS, MINNESOTA.

GRAIN-SEPARATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,813, dated May12,1885.

Application filed July 1, 1881.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN LUCAS, of Hastings, in the county of Dakota andState of Minnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements inGrain-Separators, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to furnish a separator adapted toseparate from wheat the oats, cockle, 8m, which may be mixed with it.

It consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of theseveral parts hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my machine. Fig. 2 isa vertical section thereof, showing the relative arrangement of thesieves, 8m. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing the hopper,tilting valve, and sieve. Fig. 4. is a detail View showing two of themain sieves with different meshes in a single frame. Fig. 5 shows thecut-off board and its supports. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of thesupplemental frame.

A is the main frame, supported on legs A A The longer legs A, whichsupport the upper or feed end of the frame, are pivoted to the saidframe and are held by hooked rods A engaging in staples Aflwhereby theymay be set outward or inward, and thereby lower or raise the feed end,as may be desired.

On the upper or feed end of the frame A, I place the hopper B, which isarranged to deliver the grain onto the sieves.

B is a tilting valve, pivoted to the hopper just below thedischargeopeningB ,which extends outward from the hopper over the upperend of the first or top sieve. It is regulated by means of thethumb-screws B arranged at its ends. It may be set at any angle desired,so that it will permit a fast or slow feed.

0 is the endless belt, )rovided with slats C, arranged in closeproximity to the surface of the upper or top sieve. It is supported onrollers journaled in suitable bearings, and is operated by a crank, 0'This belt and its arrangement with reference to the sieve havebeen shownand described in the Patent No. 274,797, granted to me March 27, 1883.

A series of inclined sieves, D, are supported in the casing andremovably held therein by means of clamping-screws D, or in any other(No model.)

suitable manner desired. I have shown only three sieves. It will beunderstood, however, that where more are desired they canbe addedwithout involving a departure from the prin ciples of my invention. Itwill be also understood that instead of supporting each of sieves D on aseparate frame, two of same might be supported on a single frame, as isshown in Fig. 4. The upper ends of the sieves are arranged on a linebelow the dischargeopening of the hopper. These sieves are made ofdifferent degrees of fineness,whereby they are adapted to separate thevarious kinds of trash that may be mixed with the wheat.

Below the lower sieve I place a movable cutoff board, E, which slides ingrooves E, formed in opposite sides of r the frame A. This cut-01f boardcan be moved to the upper ends of the grooves, or may be moved downwardtoward the lower ends thereof, so as to make a wider or narrower space,E, at its upper end, through which the cleaned wheat will fall onto thescreen in the pendent frame, hereinafter described. The open space E atthe upper end of the cut-off E is contracted or enlarged according tothe condition of the grain and the rapidity with which the separatingprocess is forwarded. This cut-off E may be so tightly fitted in itsguide-grooves as to remain at any desired point of adj ustment; orset-screws or other expedients may be employed, as is obvious.

\Vhen the grain first drops onto the upper one of the sieves D, someportions of it will at once pass through to the second sieve, which inturn will permit a part to drop to the third sieve, and the latter willpermit a small portion to pass through, which latter portion will bepermitted to drop through the open space E at the upper end of thecut-off E. This latter portion of grain, by the time it reaches thesieve in the pendent frame, will be perfectly clean, except some verysmall seedsand dust, which will descend with it. The grain which iscaught by the cut-off E will be oarried down and thrown with some forceagainst an inclined deflector, F, which is so arranged as to deflect anddeliver it into the main discharge-spout.

Gis a pendent frame suspended by hangers GGr to the main frame A. Theupper hangers, G, are slotted and held by a thumb-screw, G so that thisend of the frame G may be raised or lowered to increase or diminish thepitch of the sieve carried by it.

H is the main discharge-spout. It is fixed to and forms a part of thependent frame G, and it is so arranged as to receive the cleaned grainfrom the sieves.

I is an inclined screen placed in the upper or higher end of the frameG. Its lower end isarranged over the discharge-spout H. It receives theclean grain that drops through the sieves D and through the open spaceat the upper end of the cutoff E, and it permits the dust and smallseeds to pass through to the floor as the grain passes down said screenI, while the pure wheat is carried and delivered thence onto the sieveJ, through which it passes into the discharge-spout.

F is an inclined deflector, by preference a sieve, as shown in Fig. 2,fixed, preferably, to the frame G and inclined inthe direction oppositeto the plane of the incline of the screen I and of the cut-off E. Itsupper end is placed close to the groove in which the cut-off E slides,while its lower end is over the discharge-spout and in close proximityto the lower end of the sieve I. It will be seen that this check-sieveand the lower end of the deflector I form a hopper-shaped receptacle, K,immediately over the discharge-spout. The force with which the grain isthrown against the deflector F will, when said part is made a sieve,cause dust, small seeds, 85c, to be forced through, while the cleangrain drops down to the delivery-spout.

J is a distributing-sieve supported in the pendent frame, arranged, asmost clearly shown in Fig. 6, to slide over the upper end of thedischarge-spout just below the discharge-opening of the hopper-shapedreceptacle. K, formed by the deflector F and sieve I. The grain passesthrough it into the dischargespout. The special object of thisdistributing-sieve is to carry off any of the grains of wheat that maynot have been hulled, and which may have fallen through the uppersieves, and to so distribute or scatter the grain that it will fall in ashower into the dischargespout, and any dust that may be in the grainwill thus be removed by a slight upward draft through thedischarge-spout, which will carry it upward through the sieve J and tothe rear or under side of the deflector F. The upward draft abovereferred to is not intended to be produced by blowers or fans, but isthe natural draft common to passages or openingsarranged in anapproximately vertical position.

An inclined cut-off board, L, is supported in the frame G, and isadjustable to and from the upper side of the spout H, so it can beset topermit the good grain to drop into the spout H, while other grain thatfalls through nearer the lower end of the sieve Dwill be carried to amore distant point before it is deposited.

In the operation of this machine it will be understood that none of thesieves or other parts receive a shaking motion. With the exception ofthe belt 0 and its carrying-rollers, all the parts are motionless. Grainis separated more thoroughly by motionless machines. The grain moves byits own gravity, and the different grades more readily pass through themeshes of the sieve adapted for them, while the larger kernels passfarther along.

The two framesA and Ghave an adjustment independently of each other. Thepitch of one can be increased, while at the same time the pitch of theother can be diminished. By this arrangement the grain can be caused toflow rapidly on the sieves D and slowly on the sieve I, or slowly onsieve D and rapidly on sieve I. The degree of filthiness of the grainoften requires these opposite adjustments of the two frames.

It will be seen that the tilting valve B and the endless belt 0 arearranged relatively to each other, so that the slats 0 pass in closeproximity to the outer edge of said tilting valve. This serves to givebetter equalization to the quantity of grain held by each of the slatsO. The belt 0 revolves in the direction of the arrows, Fig 1, and theslats retard the descent of the grain on the uppermost sieve.

It will be seen from Figs. 2 and 6 that that portion of the open upperend of the dischargespout in rear of the deflector F is not closed, butremains open to permit a free upward draft for carrying upward any dustthat may have been held in the grain down to the distributing-sieve J.

Instead of making the deflector F in the form of asieve, a smooth boardmay be employed, as shown in Fig. 6,- but I prefer the use of a sieve,for thereby I secure additional means for the removal of filth from thegrain.

By this machine I am enabled to remove every particle offilth and dustfrom the grain, so that thegrain finally dropped into the spout H willbe perfectly pure.

The several sieves D are so inserted that they may be removed easily andothers of different degrees'of fineness substituted, and the machinethus be made available for the purpose of cleaning, separating, orsorting grain.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. The combination of the sieves D, the ad'- justable cut-off E, thesieve I, the dischargespout H, and the deflector F, arranged at thelower end of sieve I, and inclined in an opposite direction from saidsieve I, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the sieve I, the deflector F, arranged at thelower end of andinclined in an opposite direction to sieve I, the sieveJ the spout H, and cut-off L, arranged between the spout and sieve J,and movable longitudinally below the latter, substantially set atdifferent angles, and the supplemental sieve-carrying frame suspended onthe main frame and adjustable independently of the 15 said frame,whereby the grain may be caused to flow rapidly on the sieves of oneframe and slowly on those of the other, and vice Versa, substantially asset forth.

JOHN LUCAS.

Witnesses:

ALBERT SOHALLER, D. Y. CHAMBERLAIN.

